between now and the first of the year. >> and on the house side, it's clear that boehner is sending a message to fellow republicans in the house who have got to make extra steps that we didn't before. >> i think that's true. and i think the president has responded by saying that i'm not whetted to the idea of tax rate increases. i'll settle for more revenue if that's what i can get. >> you got senators reid and mcconnell to actually sit together. >> it was like arranging the paris pease talks or the camp david talks. it wasn't easy. >> were they as uncomfortable as they looked sitting next to each other? >> yes. >> and what did you learn from that? >> well, i think that -- what can you say? they don't strike me as two guys that are -- can sit down in a room over a whiskey and kind of work things out. they're very locked in their ways and they are both political tacticians. that's what they do. >> they are brilliant political tacticians. anybody who knows senator mcconnell and reid knows that. they're both very good at what they do, and outmaneuvering one another, which raises the qu
